By: Stingrays Media
The South Carolina Stingrays have acquired the rights to forward Lawton Courtnall from the Wheeling Nailers to complete a trade initially made on March 23.
Courtnall, 25, spent his rookie professional season with the Nailers during 2020-21, scoring 13 points on eight goals and five assists while appearing in 54 games. The Westlake Village, Calif. native was a penalty-killing specialist, scoring three of his tallies while playing shorthanded. In addition, Courtnall played a clean game and took just six penalty minutes during his rookie year. The forward finished the regular season by going 25 straight games without being whistled for a penalty.
Measuring 6-feet and 210-pounds, Courtnall had a four-year collegiate career at Western Michigan University from 2016-20 where he appeared in 138 games and totaled 36 points on 17 goals and 19 assists. He appeared in at least 30 games in all four seasons and has his best campaign as a senior while posting 10 points on five goals and five assists while earning a +4 rating.
Prior to his time with WMU, Courtnall native played three seasons of junior hockey in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Waterloo Black Hawks and Sioux Falls Stampede. While in Sioux Falls, the left-shot attacker helped his team claim a Clark Cup Championship in 2015, playing with multiple former Stingrays in Will Graber, Alec Marsh, Tyler Nanne and Matt Nuttle. Courtnall had his best junior campaign the following season when he had 31 points in 58 games on 15 goals and 16 assists.
The 29th season of Stingrays hockey begins in North Charleston on October 23 against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
